Abstract: Provided are compositions and methods for inhibiting transmission of viruses that use mosquitoes as vectors, such as dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses. Inhibiting transmission includes reducing viral load of the virus in mosquitoes. The viral load is reduced in mosquitoes that are exposed to the virus by introducing into the mosquitoes or mosquito larvae one or more agents that can participate in RNA interference (RNAi) of expression of one or more mosquito genes, such as alpha-mannosidase 2, or Cadherin87A, or a combination thereof. Also provided are modified mosquitoes or mosquito larvae that comprise the RNAi agents. The modified mosquitoes can be released into a population of unmodified mosquitoes to inhibit transmission of the virus between mammalian hosts. Also provided are compositions comprising an RNAi agent or an expression vector that encodes the RNAi agent for use in the described methods.

Abstract: Methods for measuring diffusion in a medium. One method includes dissolving a fluorescent sample in a medium, imaging the fluorescent sample with a patterned illumination Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) technique, and analyzing a set of microscope images of the photobleached dissolved fluorescent sample with the patterned illumination using a Fourier Transform (FT) FRAP technique.

Abstract: An information management apparatus may include a storage device that separately stores ontology information of an intelligent robot that provides a service and includes a plurality of repositories each having meta information. A storage management device sorts and stores ontology information of the intelligent robot in the plurality of repositories based on a prefix of the ontology information of the intelligent robot and the meta information.

Abstract: The present invention relates to solid forms of (S)—N-(4-cyano-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3-(4-cyanophenoxy)-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanamide and process for producing the same.

Abstract: A method of producing a sulfonated polymer. The method includes providing a source for a quantity of a polymer containing polymer fibers. The quantity of the polymer is heated while immersed in sulfuric acid to 100-200° C. for a period time in a closed reactor containing an atmosphere and capable of holding pressure generated by a reaction between the quantity of the polymer and the sulfuric acid resulting in a sulfonated polymer, wherein substantially all the quantity of the polymer from the source is converted into sulfonated polymer. The sulfonated polymer is then removed from the reactor and dried. An electrode suitable for use as an electrode in an electrochemical energy storage cell is disclosed. The electrode contains amorphous porous carbon fibers made from a sulfonated polymer with a morphology wherein the amorphous porous carbon fibers have the morphology of the sulfonated polymer from which they are made.

Abstract: Provided is a device for providing motion effects, the device including a first detector configured to detect a movement of a specific object in a video of a content; a second detector configured to detect a sound event from an audio of the content; and a motion synthesizing unit configured to generate a synthesized motion by synthesizing a first motion corresponding to the movement of the specific object and a second motion generated based on the sound event.

Abstract: A needle collection and counting tray for use in a clinical setting, such as an operating room, into which a user deposits used needles. The tray is then placed into a counting and identification machine the utilizes object recognition technology to identify and count the needles on the tray.

Abstract: A joint compression and encryption system is configured to retrieve, from a local memory or image capture device, an image file including a first plurality of segments. The system is further configured to identify, for one or more segment of the first plurality of segments, a matching segment in a local segmentation repository. The system is further configured to compress remaining segments of the first plurality of segments for which no matching segment was identified into a compressed remaining segment set. The system is further configured to transmit, via an unsecure communication channel and to a second computing entity, the identifications of the matching segments, and the compressed remaining segment set. The system is further configured to, prior to retrieving the image file, perform a handshake or calibration process. The system is further configured to encrypt the matching segments using a key into an encrypted segment set and transmit the key to the second computing entity.

Abstract: A method and a system for providing a roughness haptic sense of a virtual object by using space-time encoding are provided. The method for providing a roughness haptic sense of a virtual object may comprise the steps of: displaying virtual objects to a user; tracking the position of the user's hand; predicting a virtual object, which is most likely to collide with the hand, among the virtual objects; and when the hand touches a haptic sense providing device, controlling the haptic sense providing device on the basis of the surface roughness of the predicted virtual object to feed back a roughness haptic sense to the user.

Abstract: An image encoding/decoding method is provided. An image decoding method of the present invention may comprise restoring an intra-prediction mode of a current chroma block, deriving at least one representative value based on a neighboring sample of the current chroma block and a neighboring sample of a corresponding luma block corresponding to the current chroma block in case the intra-prediction mode is a CCLM (Cross-Component Linear Model) mode, deriving a parameter of CCLM by using the at least one representative value, and generating a prediction block of the current chroma block by using the parameter of CCLM.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a building element with a wooden frame, the method comprising forming the frame of the element of wooden panels filling the space inside the frame with insulation material, coating the wooden panels which define the outer surfaces of the frame of the building element to be substantially air-tight, filling the space inside the frame with expanded perlite, and applying vacuum in the space inside the building element by a vacuum pump connected to the element. The invention also relates to such a building element with a wooden frame, as well as a building element system consisting of a plurality of such building elements with a wooden frame.

Abstract: A focus scan type imaging device for imaging a target object in a sample that induces aberration proposed. The device includes: a light source unit for emitting a beam; an optical interferometer for splitting the beam emitted from the light source into a sample wave and a reference wave, and providing an interference wave formed by interference between a reflection wave that is the sample wave reflected from the sample and the reference wave; a camera module for imaging the interference wave; a scanning mirror disposed on an optical path of the sample wave of the optical interferometer and configured to reflect the sample wave to cause the sample wave to scan the sample; a wavefront shaping modulator disposed on the optical path of the sample wave of the optical interferometer; and an imaging controller configured to operate in a phase map calculation mode and in an imaging mode.

Abstract: A portable sampler, the sampler including a sampler assembly having a housing that includes a receiver defined therein for interchangeably receiving a number of removable inlet assemblies, the removable inlet assemblies including a respirable inlet assembly and a thoracic inlet assembly. The respirable inlet assembly includes a hybrid cyclone assembly, the hybrid cyclone assembly including an impaction stage and a cyclone in series. The thoracic inlet assembly includes an inlet slot configured to function as a size-selective inlet. Another thoracic inlet assembly includes a housing having a number of openings configured to receive a sample airflow; an inlet insert through which an inlet aperture is defined; a prequalification chamber defined between a lower surface of the housing and an upper surface of the inlet insert; and a protrusion extending downward from the lower surface of the housing into the inlet aperture of the inlet insert to from an inlet slot.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a soft tissue device, such as a transverse carpal ligament cutting device having one or more balloons that are deflated when the device is in an inactive position and are inflated when the device is in an active position. Other embodiments provide a soft tissue cutting method, such as a method of cutting a transverse carpal ligament that uses a soft tissue cutting device.

Abstract: An auxiliary circuit for reducing an output voltage ripple of a DC-DC converter includes: a capacitor configured to perform charging and discharging, a main buck converter including a first switch and a second switch connected to a voltage source, and a first inductor connected between the capacitor and a contact point of the first switch and the second switch, the first inductor having a first inductor current that flows therethrough, and an auxiliary buck converter including a third switch and a fourth switch respectively connected to the first switch and the second switch in parallel, and a second inductor connected between the capacitor and a contact point of the third switch and the fourth switch, the second inductor having a second inductor current that flows therethrough, and the auxiliary buck converter configured to control the second inductor current by generating two envelopes with different heights to compensate for a difference between the first inductor current and an output current.

Abstract: A pressure sensor includes: a first substrate; a second substrate having an inner surface and a touch surface that is opposite to the inner surface, wherein the inner surface faces the first substrate with a resistance sensing space therebetween; a first electrode and a second electrode, which are arranged spaced apart from each other in the resistance sensing space; and a piezoresistive pattern arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and disposed in the resistance sensing space, wherein the piezoresistive pattern includes a porous elastic support and a plurality of conductive carbon structures dispersed in the porous elastic support.

Abstract: An electric field variable gas sensor includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating film disposed on the semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor thin film material disposed on a part of the semiconductor substrate and a part of the insulating film, a gas molecule adsorption inducing material disposed on the semiconductor thin film material, a first electrode disposed on the semiconductor substrate to be spaced apart from the semiconductor thin film material, and a second electrode disposed on the insulating film to be connected with the semiconductor thin film material.

Abstract: The present invention describes substituted benzo[f]imidazo[1,5-a][1,4]diazepines of the formula (I): wherein R1, R2, R2?, R3, and X are as disclosed herein. These compounds target alpha-4 and alpha-5 GABAa receptors and are useful for the treatment of airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation in asthma.

Abstract: There are approximately 35,000 abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells in New York with no known location. Unplugged wells emit methane, a strong greenhouse gas, which has the potential to significantly contribute to global climate change and act as a pollutant chemical. A long-range UAV equipped with methane sensors, MagPike (atomic magnetometer), and LiDAR sensors successfully detected unmarked well sites using characteristic magnetic signals generated by vertical metal piping preserved in the ground. The optimal flight altitude and transect spacing was determined for detection driven by the total field strength of the Earth's magnetic field and the height of tree canopies determined by LiDAR. Traditional methods of identifying oil and gas wells are costly and less powerful in acquisition of data such as using large magnetometers attached to helicopters.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a HLA-A2 subtype-specific PLK1-derived epitope inducing an antigen-specific T cell immune response to a PLK1 protein. More specifically, a HLA-A2 subtype-specific PLK-1-derived epitope inducing an antigen-specific T cell immune response to a PLK1 protein according to the present invention can provide a CD8+ T cell immune response specific for tumor cells.